Optimize your content for SEO with this actionable template available in Word, Google Docs and as a PDF. This free template shows you exactly where and how to use keywords on your page. So whether you want to keyword-optimize blog posts, ecommerce product pages, or local services pages, this template can help you get higher Google rankings.

Why Use a Template For On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO has changed A LOT over the last few years. Back in the day, you only needed to do four or five basic things to optimize your page (like making sure that your keyword density was high enough). And you were pretty much done. Today? Optimizing your site’s content is much more involved. There are more steps. And those steps are more complex than before.

This template helps you keep track of all the little things that you need to do to optimize your content. You can use it like a checklist to make sure that you’re checking off all of the boxes that Google and other search engines want to see.

In fact, I personally use an on-page SEO checklist to keep track of things. Otherwise, I’ll forget something small (like adding my keyword in an H2 tag). But when I have my handy on-page SEO template open in one tab and my page open in another, I make sure that I every step gets done.

What’s Included

Here’s what’s included in this on-page SEO template:

1. Page-level keyword optimization strategies: Including tips for using your keyword in your page’s content, in your site’s URLs, title tags, and more.
2. UX optimization techniques: Learn how to optimize your content so that Google searchers find exactly what they need.
3. Advanced tips: Strategies for people that want to take their on-site SEO to the next level.

How to Use This Template

1. Download the free On-Page SEO Template on this page
2. Open up a draft of a webpage. Or an existing page that you want to optimize
3. Identify one target keyword that you want that page to rank for
4. Use this template to add that keyword in all the right places on your page
5. Publish your new or updated page
6. Use the Google Search Console to get your page indexed

How to Get The Most Out of This Template

Yes, optimizing your page around a specific keyword can help it rank. But it’s only one piece of the SEO puzzle. To increase the odds that your optimized page ranks in Google, you also want to make sure that:

• Your content is a great fit for what’s known as “Search Intent”. I talk about this a little bit in the template. But it’s worth emphasizing one more time here. If your content isn’t EXACTLY what someone is searching for, then you’re going to have a hard time ranking… even if your site has all of the other signals that Google looks at (like backlinks).
• Your site has decent Domain Authority. In other words: you need to have some link authority to rank for competitive terms.
• Your target keyword isn’t super competitive. A brand new site has a 0% chance of ranking for a competitive keyword like “digital marketing”. Instead, go with a long tail version of that keyword that’s not quite as competitive, like “small business digital marketing tips”.
• For a more in-depth look and further explanation of everything in this template, see my Definitive Guide to On-Page SEO.